On August 26, 2026, a massive flood occurred along the Nepal-China border. Following the disaster, many social media users shared images and videos purportedly related to the flooding. However, some of this content was unrelated to the disaster and was shared in a misleading context.
One such example is a video
shared on X on August 26, 2026, by a user named CodexZeroTR. The 20-second video
shows an elephant rescuing a person who appears to be swept away by
floodwaters. The video has been viewed more than 6.3 million times, reposted
8,300 times, and liked more than 59,000 times.
However, although the footage is
authentic, it is unrelated to the floods that occurred in Nepal on August 26.
To determine the video’s actual origin and whether it had previously circulated
online, it was analyzed using Grok and Gemini.
The video was first examined
using Grok, which indicated that the footage was old. Grok also noted that
elephants do not inhabit the high-altitude mountainous region where the
flooding occurred and that Nepalese Army helicopters were used in rescue operations
following the disaster.
However, Grok did not identify
the country where the video was originally recorded. Therefore, to obtain more
detailed information about its origin, the footage was further analyzed using
Gemini. According to Gemini, the video dates back to 2016 and was filmed at the
Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
To further verify that the video
was recorded in Thailand, the audio track was extracted from the footage using
InVID-WeVerify and examined separately. Analysis of the extracted audio
indicated that the language heard in the video was Thai. This linguistic
evidence further supports the conclusion that the footage was recorded in
Thailand rather than Nepal.
In conclusion, the video depicts
a real event, but it is unrelated to the August 2026 floods along the
Nepal-China border. The footage originated in Thailand and dates back to 2016,
yet it was recirculated in 2026 in connection with a recent natural disaster in
Nepal. This case demonstrates how authentic footage can be taken out of its
original context and used to spread misleading information. It also highlights
the importance of verifying not only whether visual content is authentic but
also when and where it was originally recorded.
If you suspect that a video,
image, or audio file has been created using artificial intelligence or deepfake
technology and would like free assistance in verifying its authenticity, you
may send the link to the content or the file itself to allaboutdeepfake@gmail.com.
